The history of injury and industrial disease rates in British Columbia from 1950 to 1996.

The purpose of this investigation is to describe changes in industrial injury and disease rates in British Columbia between 1950 and 1996. Data on injury and disease rates were abstracted manually from WCB Annual Reports for the years 1950 through 1996. A number of interesting patterns emerge. Death report rates declined by 79% during the study period. Injury report rates also declined, although less dramatically, by 29%, over the 46-year study period with much of the decrease occurring prior to 1970. Accepted claims for impact injuries declined prior to the 1970s. At the same time claims for strain injuries began to increase with the pace of increase accelerating after 1970. A similar pattern was observed for industrial disease as the incidence of strain-based disease claims also increased rapidly after 1970. This pronounced trend towards "strain-related" injuries and disease creates new challenges for adjudication and prevention. The identification of work organizational and job structural features which contribute to strain injury and disease and the elucidation of the relationship between these conditions and "physical" strain injuries should be a priority for injury epidemiologists and WCB.